The High Point University volleyball team posted an impressive 3-1 (30-18, 30-25, 25-30, 30-23) victory over rival Elon to close out a three-match home stand on Wednesday night at the Millis Athletic Center.

The Panthers (11-9) used a balanced attack and solid defense to snap their three-match losing skid. The loss dropped the Phoenix to 4-14 overall on the season and marked their sixth defeat in their last seven matches.

"It is exciting to get back in the win column after a rough week last week," said HPU head coach Chad Esposito. "It is even more exciting for me to see us have a good start to a match. I thought our offense ran very efficiently. One of the big keys to our success was our ability to control and disrupt their middle attack. That is something we were concentrating on and were able to do effectively for most of the night."

Freshman outside hitter Ashley Mellott recorded a career-high 19 kills to lead a quartet of HPU attackers in double figures. Sophomore Jamie Kaufman had 14 kills followed by 11 from freshman Lindsay Raus and 10 by senior Michelle Feiser.  Kaufman added 12 digs to record her 12th double-double of the season while Feiser finished with 11 digs and 27 assists to notch her Big South leading eighth triple-double of the year.

"Ashley and Lindsay continue to provide us with solid offensive performances," added Esposito. "Their consistent play has been a huge lift to our team in recent weeks."

Defensively, senior libero Jenelle Stouffer paced the Panthers with 22 digs marking her fifth 20+ dig performance of the season. Her match total also pushed her to an even 1,000 digs for her HPU career. Senior Tara Mahoney had five blocks to lead the High Point frontline.

"Jenelle has really stepped up her intensity," said Esposito. "Her determination and desire to keep up every ball has been the anchor for our strong defensive effort. I am thrilled that she was able to reach the impressive milestone of 1,000 digs, and it is especially gratifying that it came in a win for the team."

Elon's Britany Westphal finished with 17 kills to lead the Phoenix on offense with Emily Downing's 10 digs topping the EU defensive performance.

For the match, High Point held the advantage in every statistical category including a 64-46 edge in total kills and a .242 to .090 advantage in hitting percentage.  The Panthers also out-dug (67-49) and out-blocked (9-5) the Phoenix.